I Know Saint Peter Won't Call My Name
by Kiskaloo
Summary: Alternating between the "present" of Volume 9 of the GSG Manga and the past, this story sheds light on how Michele Pagani came to learn about Special Operations Section 2 and his relationship with the the first girl to undergo cybernetic augmentation.
1. The Speed of Sound

**"_I Know Saint Peter Won't Call My Name…"_**

A _Gunslinger Girl_ Original Fiction Story By Chris Wallace

_This story uses characters and locations based on the Gunslinger Girl manga written by Yu Aida and published in monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The characters of Kara and Michele are original to myself._

_**Author's Note –** The following takes place during Chapter 45 of the manga._

* * *

**Chapter One – The Speed of Sound**

The different velocities in the speed of light and speed of sound meant that the flash of light preceded the sound of the explosion by an almost barely discernable amount.

Inside the Interior Ministry complex off Galileo Street in downtown Rome, Michele and Kara were behind a thick oak counter looking outside the huge plate-glass windows when they saw a garbage truck ram the security barrier and then explode.

Kara's cyborg reflexes and protection priorities kicked in and she tackled her handler, trying to cover as much of his body with her own as possible. Both hit hard and Kara's 75 kilos drove the breath out of Michele's lungs. The sound of the explosion was almost deafening and Michele could feel the shockwave roll over them and the debris falling all around them. He saw hundreds of bumps appear in the back on the counter as it absorbed high-speed shrapnel.

As quickly as the violence was unleashed, it passed, and Kara rolled off of Michele and stood. Michele could hear cries and groans all around him and motioned for Kara to help pull him up. He turned and looked out on a scene of devastation and horror.

The plate glass windows were gone, turned into airborne scythes that had torn though the lobby, cutting down anyone standing in front of them. From the torn and bloodied forms he saw, he knew that many had already been killed and more would die if not quickly attended to.

"Michele to Jean," he called out over the radio.

"This is Jean. We saw an explosion."

"It's the Ministry of Interior. Truck bomb. Huge one. Get medical assistance here, stat."

"Will do. I can't raise Marco or Angelica. They were near there."

"We'll look for them. Michele, out." He headed after Kara whom, listening in to the radio conversation, was already walking outside to start the search. She found them about 100 meters away, lying on a taxi stand near the Direzione centrale della polizia di prevenzione (the Central Directorate for the Anti-Terrorism Police or DCPP), and called Michele over.

"Madre de Dio," he said. Marco was sitting propped up against the stand where the blast had hurled him. His glasses were missing and blood streamed down his forehead. But his exclamation was not for Marco's condition, but Angelica, who lay sprawled across his lap. Her right arm was missing at the elbow, shorn off in the explosion. Blood soaked the front of her jacket, staining the white a brilliant crimson which mixed with the black powder of the explosion like splashed paint.

"Check Marco," Michele ordered as he went to Angelica.

"He's alive, but unconscious," Kara reported.

"Okay. You grab him while I get Angelica." While she had the body of a young girl, she weighed more like an adult, and Michele struggled to gently lift her some 65 kilos. For Kara, lifting the much heavier Marco onto her back was as easy as lifting a sack of potatoes, even if his legs dragged behind her due to his greater height.

Angelica opened her eyes, but the pupils wouldn't focus. "Explosion. Truck bomb. How…how is Marco?"

"He's fine, Angelica. But you are not. We need to get you to the medical ward."

"No…must…protect Marco." Her eyes rotated wildly in her sockets. He imagined the flash overloaded her optical sensors and she was blind. She started to struggle, causing Michele to almost drop her.

"Angelica! Stop! Marco is fine. Kara is taking him to the ambulance. You're seriously injured. Calm down!" Angelica stopped struggling. Her eyes focused on his face, but he figured she was just focusing on the sound of his voice.

"Michele?" she asked.

"Yes, Angelica. It's me. Just hold on."

She looked up and a smile broke out on her face. "Perro! What are you doing here?" Her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped into unconsciousness.

A moment later, Alessandro and Petrushka rounded the corner.

"Jesus," Alessandro said, crossing himself.

"Where are the medics?" Michele demanded.

"On the way," Alessandro noted. Michele started to stumble under Angelica's weight.

"Petra, take over," Alessandro ordered.

"No," Michele said. "Just help me into a sitting position," he asked. Petra hooked her arms under his shoulders and helped him as he scooted his legs straight out, allowing Angelica to rest on them with her back against his chest.

"It's okay, Angelica…Help is coming…Help is coming…"


	2. The Scientist

_This story uses characters and locations based on the Gunslinger Girl manga written by Yu Aida and published in monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The characters of Kara and Michele are original to myself._

* * *

**Chapter Two – The Scientist**

* * *

_A number of years prior to the explosion…_

* * *

Major Michele Pagani, Aeronautica Militare Italiana Reserves, Department Liaison for the Public Works Department of the Social Welfare Agency, drove his Ferrari 456 M GTA down a long and straight road surrounded by forest to the east of Rome. He approached a guard shack and slowed to a stop, pressing his credentials to the window. It was another hot and humid day in Italy's capital city, and he didn't want to waste the car's air conditioning.

The guard looked at the credentials, consulted a clipboard, and then nodded his head. He twirled his right hand twice and the massive gate started to pull back. The guard came to attention and saluted as Michele accelerated through the gate and turned right into the visitors parking area.

He stepped out of his car and started to walk towards the main building. As he approached, an attractive woman in her twenties dressed in a blue suit was waiting.

"Maggiore Pagani? I'm Ferro Milani. We spoke on the phone the other day. I want to thank you again for coming out today."

"Always happy to help our sister department," Michele said, only half-seriously. Though he was officially tasked to Public Safety, much of his time was spent smoothing the feathers of agencies that Special Operations had ruffled with their actions. As such, he did not hold them in the highest regards.

"If you'll come with me, please," she said.

Once inside, Ferro led him into a conference room with a number of people.

"Major Pagani, may I introduce Director Giacomo Lorenzo, head of Special Operations Section 2; Doctor Fernando Bianchi, Cybernetic Augmentation Project Director; and Doctor Ricardo Gilliani, Director of Development."

Pleasantries were exchanged and coffee was served. Doctor Bianchi stood and walked to a podium.

"Major Pagani, we asked you here today for your input on a new program the Social Welfare Agency is preparing to implement. Because of our medical group, Special Operations Section 2 has been chosen to oversee this program." He hit a button and the lights dimmed at the front as a projector turned on.

"The goal of this program is to being advanced prosthetics and cybernetic augmentation to grievously injured or disabled humans." He clicked a button and a slide show presentation began.

Over the next hour, Doctors Bianchi and Gilliani presented a blueprint for a level of biomechatronics that Pagani had not thought was yet possible. It called for the use of artificial implants and highly-advanced neurocognitive and neuromotor prostheses made from carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) and titanium with synthetic muscular systems all tied together with advanced biosensors and cosmesis. Micro-actuators would allow heightened strength and neuroprosthetics would enhance reflexes, improve visual and auditory acuity and reduce the transmission of pain impulses.

"What do you think, Major?" Ferro asked at the end of the presentation.

"I am thinking why you invited me?" he replied, truthfully.

"You bring some, frankly, unique background to the table, Major," she said. "Your background with composites and metallurgy, including structures and stress analysis, as well as your interest and knowledge of biotechnology all have direct bearing on this program.

"While the primary focus of this project is to the betterment of people with injuries or disabilities, we do see possible applications for such technology in the military or police forces."

"Are you planning to make killing machines like the movies?" Pagani snorted.

"That's science fiction, Major. We will deal with science fact," Doctor Bianchi laughed. "We're looking more at basic augmentation, including pain management to help wounded soldiers."

"Fair enough. How can I help?" Michele asked.


	3. Help Is Around The Corner

_This story uses characters and locations based on the Gunslinger Girl manga written by Yu Aida and published in monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The characters of Kara and Michele are original to myself._

**Chapter Three – Help Is Around The Corner**

* * *

_Present day…_

* * *

"The ambulance is here," Giuseppe said. "Henrietta, you and Kara take Angelica and put her in the stretcher."

Michele's dark suit didn't show Angelica's blood or other fluids, but he felt it plaster his shirt to his arms. His legs wanted to cramp, but he shrugged it off and followed Angelica into the ambulance, taking the last seat and leaving Kara standing outside.

"Take the car back to the agency," he ordered, tossing her the keys. "Follow Giuseppe and wave your agency ID around a lot so you're not stopped." Kara nodded her head.

"I'll make sure she gets back without hassle. See you there," Giuse said and Michele nodded.

Inside the ambulance, technicians hooked up Angelica to monitoring equipment. They removed Michele's make-shift tourniquets and bandages and replaced them with more effective units. They then proceeded to do a blood and fluid transfusion. All the time, Michele never let go of her left hand.

The ambulance pulled into the receiving bay of the complex hospital and Michele saw Priscilla standing their anxiously.

"What happened?" she demanded. She saw Angelica and cried out.

"Truck bomb. She shielded Marco, but took serious damage. I did what I could in the field and the technicians stabilized her. Both followed Angelica into the hospital.

Doctor Belgonchi met them halfway down. "God what a mess," he said. "She looks like she's been through a meat grinder."

"You have to save her," Priscilla pleased with him, but Belgonchi responded with a non-committal grunt as they disappeared into the operating theatre, leaving Priscilla and Michele on the other side.

* * *

"Papa-san…Papa-san, wake up."

Michele blinked his eyes and focused on the shape before him, which resolved into his cyborg step-daughter Kara. He started to move, but felt a weight on his right shoulder. He turned and saw Priscilla was using it as a pillow, asleep.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"About nine," she replied. "Angelica is out of surgery."

"Thanks." He reached over and shook Priscilla awake.

"Sorry, TC," she said, rubbing her eyes.

"Kara said Angelica is out of surgery. Let's pay her a visit."

* * *

They approached her room and saw Dr. Gilliani coming down the hall. He noticed their disheveled state and correctly deduced they'd not left.

"How is she?" Priscilla asked.

"We were able to repair and replace the damaged systems as well as repair the human tissue. She took a couple kilos of scrap steel from the bomb. We think we got it all, but she might set off metal detectors at the airport," he chuckled mirthlessly.

"Unfortunately, her brain is atrophying and we can't stop it. She's in a coma right now and we believe it is irreversible. It's only a matter of time before she dies. At least she won't suffer anymore…" Gilliani shook his head and walked past them and down the hall in silence.

As they walked up, a young nurse came over and blocked the door.

"You can't go in there," she said.

"Kara, remove her, please," Michele asked. Kara immediately stepped in front of the nurse.

"Uh, very well," the nurse said and quickly walked away.

"Stay out here and ensure we're not disturbed," he told Kara as he opened the door and let Priscilla proceed before following her and closing the door behind him. Kara took up position in front of the door, legs slightly spread and arms crossed. The expression on her face could put a layer of fresh frost on the North Pole.

* * *

The overhead lights lent the sterile white surfaces a harsh glare. The room smelled of antiseptics and other fluids and the soft sound of whirring and beeping machinery provided a background musak.

"Angelica lay still on the bed, dressed in a light green medical gown. Wires led from her forehead and both arms and an IV dripped some type of solution or fluid into her replaced right arm.

"She looks so peaceful," Priscilla noted. "Like an angel."

_An angel who has fallen to Earth,_ Michele thought, his mind going back to the first time he had met Angelica and she had been in much the same condition.


	4. Bigger Stronger

_This story uses characters and locations based on the Gunslinger Girl manga written by Yu Aida and published in the monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The characters of Kara and Michele are original to myself._

**Chapter Four – Bigger Stronger**

**

* * *

**

_Immediately after the events of Chapter Two…_

_

* * *

_

Michele and Ferro looked through the glass at the young girl lying on the hospital bed. They had left the others in the conference room and were now in the hospital ward to see who would become the first patient for the recently-discussed modifications.

"Her name is Angelina. Her father's company was about to become insolvent so he decided that Angelica would have an 'accident' so he could collect on a large life insurance policy he had taken out on her," Ferro said.

"What is the world coming to?" he spat. "The name suits her, though. She looks like an angel lying there peacefully."

"In exchange for not locking him away for life for attempted murder and insurance fraud, he agreed to release Angelina to us. It was decided that she would become the first person to undergo cybernetic augmentation."

"I still don't understand how my background and interests can help," Michele admitted.

"We'd prefer to have people with knowledge in the specific materials and applications we're planning, but you have the necessary security clearances and can be trusted to keep quiet about it. While we intend to make these techniques and technologies available to the public through the SWA, we're really pushing the boundaries here with the human trials. We've been doing tests for years on lab animals, but rats and primates are not the best human analogs.

"In addition to your technical skills, what we really desire is your background as a linguist and your service with teams composed of members from different countries and branches of service in NATO. Also your inter-agency work and your combat and counter-terrorist experience are desirable."

"Why would Angelina need that?" Michele asked.

"Not her, but as Doctor Bianchi noted, we hope to be able to apply some of what we learn here to military and Carabinieri personnel to help with our operations against the PRF and other extremist forces.

"Unfortunately, we expect there to be complications and setbacks. Angelina is the first test subject, but we do not expect her to be the last. We chose Angelina because she will die soon, anyway. The doctors did what they could, but she's already starting to suffer multiple organ failure and it's only a matter of time before she succumbs to her injuries. We're actually not as ready as we had planned, but we're at the mercy of Angelina's condition. So we've cleared it with Director Petris at SWA to temporarily assign you to this facility effective immediately to assist the medical team in doing the conversion for Angelina."

Michele shrugged. As an ex-Air Force officer he was used to TDY (Temporary Detached dutY) and with the Director signing off on it, there was no point in trying to appeal.

* * *

_A week later…_

_

* * *

_

Michele knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," came the reply.

"Good morning, Angelica," Michele said as he walked in to her hospital room. "How are you feeling today?"

"Better, Michele. Thank you. The pain in my legs is gone, now."

"Excellent. We're just about ready to get you out of here so you can go to your new home. Maybe a day or so."

"Yeah!" she said with a thousand-watt smile. "It's been boring here by myself." Michele patted her on the head and stepped outside. He went into the observation room next door, which had a large one-way mirror that faced Angelica's room.

"You look confused," Doctor Bianchi noted from his chair. He was reviewing computer screens that were showing Angelica's vitals.

"She seems totally comfortable with the idea she is a cyborg," Michele noted.

"It is part of the conditioning process," Bianchi replied.

"Conditioning? I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"Angelica is now many times stronger, Michele," Bianchi noted. "She can lift 150 kilos with one arm or punch through a car door with her fist. It is important that she knows these things and be as comfortable with the abilities and limits of her new body as you and I are with our own bodies, lest she inadvertently hurt herself or others. She is not Superman, after all. If she leapt off a tall building, she would fall to the ground and die like any normal human. We also don't want the patients to remember the trauma that brought them here or required their cybernetic augmentation. So we make them believe that they have always been cyborgs."

"Why did you change her name?"

"She needed a new identity created for her to ensure that the divorce from her biological family is complete. So we changed the 'n' to a 'c'. Come, I want you to meet someone."

They stepped outside and down the hall to a waiting area where a man was waiting.

"Michele Pagani, I want you to meet Marco Togni, formerly with the DCPP and now with Special Operations, Section 2. Marco, Maggiore Michele Pagani."

Michele and Marco immediately sized each other up.

"Major, eh? What service?" Marco asked.

"Aeronautica Militare," Michele replied. "Now in the reserves, however."

"Rather tall for a pilot," Marco opinioned.

Michele chuckled. "Likely why I never became one. I worked in NATO."

"And this lady is Priscilla, one of the agents in Section 2," Bianchi introduced. Priscilla and Michele shook hands.

"Marco here is going to take care of Angelica at the Public Welfare Agency and oversee her testing. He will be assisted by Priscilla. Marco is the one who chose her new name and they've already been introduced."

"Take care of her," Michele asked.

"I promise to give a better life then she has had so far," Marco stated.

* * *

_The following day…_

_

* * *

_

"Ready to go, Angelica?" Michele asked.

"Yes!" she smiled back.

Doctor Bianchi brought over a wheelchair and Michele lifted her up, straining under her weight. Though she had undergone physical conditioning, she had been bed-ridden since the operation so they didn't want to risk damage to her if she fell.

"They feed you too much, Angelica. You're a blimp!" he grumbled good-naturedly.

"But blimps float, Michele! So that means I should be light!" Angelica said and Michele could only chuckle.

"I'll take her up front, Michele," Bianchi noted. "Thank you for your assistance. You're work here is done."

"Yes, Doctor." Michele leaned down and took Angelica's hand. "Now you behave yourself for your new family. Makes lots of friends and get really strong."

"Yes, Michele!" she said, again hitting him with her dazzling smile.

Michele followed them both out, but when they turned to head for the entrance and Marco and Priscilla, Michele turned the opposite direction and headed for the staff parking lot and his car.


	5. Talk

_This story uses characters and locations based on the Gunslinger Girl manga written by Yu Aida and published in the monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The characters of Kara and Michele are original to myself._

_Author's Note – the following takes place just prior to Chapter 47 of the manga._

* * *

**Chapter Five – Talk**

* * *

_Present day…_

* * *

"You need to be with her," Michele said to Marco as the two sat outside near the central fountain. "She doesn't have much time now, the doctors say."

"You're right, she doesn't have much time left. So what's the point of doing anything about it? Even now she barely remembers who I am and almost nothing of her recent past."

"The doctors say that as her brain fails, the conditioning dampening her long-term memory is failing, as well," Michele reported. "When I saw her this morning, she thought it was the day she'd left the hospital to join you. She was confused when she saw her legs didn't have their artificial skin. She didn't remember that she'd been in the bombing and they'd had to repair them."

"See? A waste of time. Besides, don't you have your own cyborg to worry about?"

"Don't be an ass, Marco. The thought of Kara dying scares the hell out of me and you and Angelica have been together longer. You may feel you need to play it tough in front of the others, but I'm ex-military too so you can come out of your hard shell a bit.

"Angelica told me about the Prince of the Land of Pasta stories you used to read her before and after her surgery and she showed me the book. Your ex-girlfriend, Patricia, who collected your stories together in book form, wrote it. I know you have a heart in there somewhere, Togni."

"She was the first, Michele. All the pain and the suffering she underwent because of it. I had to harden my heart to it. At first it was intoxicating, seeing how powerful she was. And then came Triela and the others. I missed my comrades in the DCPP, but I was content to know we were making a difference.

"And then the problems with the conditioning began. Her memory loss meant she'd forget something almost as she learned it. She became timid and cautious, useless in combat and a danger to both herself and her teammates. It's easy for you to stand there and criticize me, Tenente Colonnello Pagani. Kara Michelle is almost brand-new and a second generation model, taking advantage of not only what has been learned with Angelica, but also Claes and the others. Her first mission was a resounding success and her subsequent ones have been, as well. Lorenzo doesn't question your use to Section 2. That jerk Croce doesn't look at Kara as a waste of resources. Walk a kilometer in my boots, Colonnello, and tell me if the path is as rosy as you make it."

"You promised me when you took her you'd make her life better," Michele said, softly.

"And what of you, Michele?" Marco bristled. "Did helping turn her into a little assassin make her life better? Oh, you didn't teach her to aim a gun at a man and then pull the trigger to end his life, but you helped develop the strategies and tactics they imprinted in her brain to help her learn combat skills and techniques. Is that what we saved her life for? So she could in turn take the lives of others?

"We've become what we're fighting, Colonnello. To combat evil we have become evil ourselves. You were there at the briefing when Bianchi talked so proudly about how far our little Angelica had come. And because Triela turned out so well they were going to do the same to four more girls. And then there was Beatrice, who they turned into a living bomb detector. And when they killed Claes' handler for having a conscience they couldn't pair her with a new handler so they washed her mind clean and made her into a guinea pig to test the new conditioning treatments and systems now in Kara. They tested her to destruction and then put her back together again time after time to see how far they could push it.

"And she never once complained. None of them did. Because the conditioning told them to love us, whether we treated them like queens or like slaves. And now we know it's the conditioning itself that is killing them. Croce has Rico so drugged-up I'm surprised she hasn't keeled over dead. Giuseppe and Hillshire are trying to use as little as possible to protect them, but Henrietta goes berserk every time someone so much as looks at her handler the wrong way and Triela is so fatalistic about it all her outlook on life is more Russian then Petrushka's.

"Is it selfish of me to want her to be free of all that, Michele? To release her from the artificial devotion she has for me? In four or five years, when it's Kara in that bed wasting away her last hours, can you honestly say you would try and keep her tied to all this?"

"When I pulled her out of that smoking train car in Madrid something clicked over inside of me," Michele admitted. "As badly injured as she was, she was still fighting to live. That is why I sought her out at the hospital and when I heard she was not likely to survive, I suggested her for Section 2. I knew what I was subjecting her too, but she wanted to live and it was the only way I could fulfill that desire.

"Now she's my fratello partner and my adopted daughter and she gives me strength just looking at her. For as long as she is alive, I will stand by her side and support her as if she were my real daughter because, to me, she is."

"Maybe you're just a better man then I am, Colonnello," Marco opinioned as he rose. "I need to get back to my desk."

Michele watched him walk towards the offices.

"I don't think you are, Togni. I don't think you are…"


	6. Careful Where You Stand

**Chapter Six – Careful Where You Stand**

**

* * *

**

_A few months after the events of Chapter Two…_

"Ah, Michele. Thanks for coming over," Director Giulio Draghi, Director of Special Operations Section One of the Social Welfare Agency greeted as he rose from behind his chair.

"What can I do for Section One?" Michele asked as he took the offered seat.

"What do you know about Section Two?" Draghi asked.

"Uh, that they perform much the same function you do? Counterterrorism and other special operations."

"I hear that they're experimenting with terminally-ill children. Turning them into killing machines like in some Hollywood science-fiction blockbuster," Draghi said.

Michele did his best to keep his expression blank.

"Sir?"

Draghi leaned back in his chair. "I know what it sounds like, Pagani. But a few months back some of Section 1's staff said they saw a young girl with long brown hair running the urban combat training course under the supervision of an ex-DCPP soldier named Marco Togni. And about two weeks ago someone said they saw another girl, this one with blonde hair, practicing firearms training with one of Section Two's operatives, a new guy named Hillshire."

"Are you sure they're not just family members?" Michele asked.

"We checked on that. Togni recently adopted a daughter named Angelica who also has brown hair. As for Hillshire, so far nothing has come up, but we're digging through the new paperwork."

"With respect, Director, what has any of this to do with me?"

"We knew you were out at Section Two a number of months back for some type of meeting that involved Special Operation's medical staff. We also know that you met with Togni and another Section Two agent at a hospital outside Rome just before they took possession of a young girl with long brown hair in a wheelchair."

"You realize, sir, that I can neither confirm nor deny any of that," Michele noted, guardedly.

"The truth is the truth, Major, whether or not you wish to acknowledge it," Draghi stated. "However, I did not call you in here to break confidences or make you uncomfortable."

"Then what did you call me in for?"

"I have a…favor…to ask. Your position in Public Safety has you working with a number of other groups within the police and military forces. I also know you liaison with members of Section Two on operations just as you do with members here in Section One. I would appreciate it if you could keep your eyes and ears open about anything you might see or hear about such a program in Section Two."

"Director…" Michele began, but Draghi put up his hand for him to stop.

"I am not asking that you 'actively shake the bush', Major. Just that if you hear anything you think might be relevant or of interest, that you get it back to me. You don't need to be direct about it. One of my agents can be the intermediary to ensure discreteness."

Michele knew this was a bad idea, but he wasn't sure as of yet how to get out of it. So he gave what he hoped was a non-committal shrug and was shown out of the office by Draghi.

* * *

_Later that afternoon…_

_

* * *

_

It was the end of the workday and Michele wanted to get drunk. The more he thought about Draghi's request – and his comments – the worse he felt.

He was walking to his car when a man dressed in a grey suit walked up to him. Next to him was a young girl of 14 or so with long blonde hair arranged in two ponytails that flowed from both sides of her head. She, too, was wearing a gray suit, though hers was of a lighter shade then the gentleman's.

"Maggiore Pagani?" the man asked.

"I do wish people would stop calling me Maggiore. I went into the reserves years ago," Michele growled.

"My apologies, signore," the man said. He held up an identity card and badge. "My name is Hillshire and I am with Special Operations Section Two. Would you please come with us?"

As soon as the man identified himself, Michele was immediately on guard.

"And why should I do that?" he asked.

"Because I am requesting it. If necessary, I can call your supervisor and make it an order."

Michele shrugged his shoulders. _It was just going to be one of those days…_

_

* * *

_

Michele stayed with the girl, who refused to speak to him even after he tried to engage her in conversation, while Hillshire went to get his car. He drove up in a late model Mercedes E350 wagon. The girl stepped forward and opened the rear right-hand door and Michele saw the front seat had been moved forward so there was plenty of legroom. He stepped in and she waited until he buckled himself in before she hit the lock and closed the door. She then went around the front and took the left rear seat next to him.

Michele figured it was pointless to ask where they were going, so he stayed silent. This seemed to fit both Hillshire and the girl, neither of whom spoke outside of Hillshire asking if it was okay to play some music. Michele agreed and they settled on some German opera to accompany them as they drove out of the city.

Soon enough, Michele started to recognize certain areas and streets and realized they were going back to the SWA compound he had first met Angelina - Angelica - and the others.

"Maybe Draghi was right, after all," he muttered under his breath. As he said it, he saw the girl next to him stiffen and pierce him with a gaze as sharp as an eagle's talons. He merely smiled back at her and he noticed a momentary sweep of confusion cross her features before they hardened again.

They drove through the gate, but instead of the parking lot of the main building, they turned to the right and drove along towards the back. Michele realized they were heading to the hospital complex. They pulled up front and stopped. The girl exited and came around to open Michele's door, motioning for him to exit the vehicle, which he did so.

"Triela will keep you company for a moment while I go park the car," Hillshire said. The girl, Triela, closed the door and stepped back. She then motioned him inside and to a chair in the waiting area out front.

"Not the talkative type, eh?" he asked. Triela responded with more silence.

Hillshire appeared and led them into the same conference room he had been to last time he had visited the facility. And like last time, he saw Director Lorenzo and Doctors Bianchi and Gilliani. He also saw the Director of Public Safety, as well as Ferro, Priscilla, Marco Togni…and Angelica.

"Hi Michele!" she said cheerfully from her chair, where she sat between Marco and Priscilla.

"Welcome back, Signore Pagani," Lorenzo greeted. "If you'd please take a seat, we'll get started." Marco sat down and the girl Triela sat next to him with Hillshire next to her.

Lorenzo stood and went to the podium.

"Good evening, all. Thank you for coming, though I know in your case Pagani, it was at the last moment and not totally at your own RSVP.

"Italy is, frankly, in crisis and we edge nearer to civil war with each passing day," Lorenzo continued. "When Sicily successfully gained independence, it inspired a number of other regions to try and do the same. It is no secret that the North has long resented the amount of money being shifted from them to the South to try and bring it up to the same standard. The situation is not too different then that experienced by West and East Germany after Reunification, with the exception that it eventually worked for them. The same cannot be said for Italy due to the inherent penetration and corruption of the southern governments by the Mafia.

"As you know, the Mafia in Italy is nothing like how they are portrayed by the Americans in their movies. They handed off the petty larceny and drug running to the foreigners and concentrated on taking over the local and provincial governments and police forces that used to fight them. They now have an effective stranglehold on the monies that are allocated to the South and this upsets the North even more, which led first to political groups, like the Lega Nord party and now armed insurgency groups like the PRF.

"So far, the government has been powerless to stop them. It's focus has been maintaining control over the central region from Rome and trying to at least keep the major cities in the North and South under control to give the appearance of a functioning national government. And yet the PRF and Mafia have infiltrated that, as well, and we will soon spend as much time fighting ourselves…

"Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, results were not as common or as effective as we had hoped. The Minister of Defense, with the knowledge and consent of the President and Prime Minister, asked that a new counterterrorism force be created. One that would be able to operate effectively outside the law to carry out sanctions against enemies of the State at all levels. That force became the Social Welfare Agency and it's two units – Public Safety and Special Operations.

"Public Safety," Lorenzo nodded towards Michele, "performs surveillance and intelligence-gathering on potential and known threats and Special Operations then acts upon and eliminates those threats. Since the SWA's inception, acts of terrorism in the cities is down 25% and we have disrupted a number of PRF and Mafia operations and eliminated or captured a number of mid-level personnel.

"Unfortunately, the 'big fish' remain out of reach. No longer dependent on their own thugs, they have contracted with professional protection agencies that have made it impossible for our operatives to get in a position to terminate them, much less undertake a capture. And as long as they remain free, Italy remains in danger.

"I'd now like to yield the podium to Doctor Bianchi, head of the augmentation and conditioning program."

"Thank you," Bianchi said. He activated the overhead projector.

"This is the first formal report of the combat cybernetic augmentation program. To date, two girls have been modified," he nodded first to Angelica and then Triela, "and paired with their _fratello_. Angelica and Marco have concentrated on the augmentations themselves while Hillshire and Triela have concentrated on their effectiveness in combat, sanction, and other roles."

At the word "sanction", which was how governments politely referred to state-sponsored assassination, Michele immediately thought of Draghi's claims.

"So far, the results have exceeded our expectations. The girls are stronger then many adult males, have almost instant reflexes and reaction times, and the armoring and pain management systems allow them to continue to function in extreme combat situations. Their augmented optics allow them to make accurate sniping shots to near maximum range in even poor conditions. On her first mission, Triela successfully killed a PRF operative with a head-shot at 400m with her G3A3."

Michele softly whistled in spite of himself. The Heckler & Koch G3A3 was an automatic assault rifle, not a sniper rifle. While it used the more powerful NATO 7.62x51mm round, it's effective range against the torso and abdomen area of a man was about 400m. To make a heat-shot at that distance that was very impressive, he had to admit.

Beside him, he thought he saw the faintest hint of a smile briefly cross Triela's face.

"We're still working on the conditioning part. Angelica was initially given minimal conditioning – essentially that necessary for her to accept and function with her new implants. Once the necessary baselines were calibrated, the next step was to apply conditioning necessary to train her in weapons and tactics as well as instilling a sense of loyalty and affection to their handler in order for them to assert and maintain control over them.

"Angelica's enhanced conditioning level was the initial conditioning we performed on Triela. The goal was to see if a deeper and broader level of initial conditioning could be applied and take hold, which would allow the cyborg to become operational faster. We were pleased to see that Triela took to it well and was ready for active duty in about half the time it took for Angelica to reach the same status."

Michele look first to Triela, then over to Angelica while Doctor Bianchi spoke. Neither girl responded to any of what he said. They looked as if they not only understood what the doctor was saying, but that it was perfectly natural for him to be describing them that way. He shook his head.

Doctor Bianchi completed his presentation and Director Lorenzo returned to the podium.

"As you know, Section 2 has primarily been in a support role to Section 1, who perform the predominant number of actual field operations. Based on the successes with Angelica and Triela, I have received permission from the Defense Ministry to add four additional girls to the program. We're in the process of recruiting their handlers now, and when that is done we will acquire the subjects and have them undergo the conversion process.

"Once these four new fratello teams have completed their training, Section 2 will switch from a support role to becoming an active counterinsurgent operation, tasked with the termination of high-level enemy combatants as identified and tracked by Public Safety."

_Draghi isn't going to like that when he finds out,_ Michele thought to himself.

"Which brings us to why we asked you here, Michele," the Director of Public Safety, said. As his boss' boss, Michele straightened up in his chair.

"We expect there to be some…resistance…not just within Special Operations Section One, but with other state and national police forces when Section Two goes online. The NOCS (Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza) and GIS (Gruppo di Intervento Speciale) are annoyed enough as-is with Special Operations Section 1. When they hear a second unit is now operational tasked for the most…important…hits, we expect even more caterwauling by them to the Ministries of Defense and Industry. We will need you to continue spreading oil over troubled waters."

"How much am I supposed to tell them?" Michele asked.

"As little as possible," Lorenzo answered. "We hope the fratello teams will be a potent weapon so we wish to keep their existence and capabilities secret for as long a possible. We know that much of the government has been penetrated from outside and, as your boss just noted, as word spreads internally about a new operations group going active, people are going to be curious as to what it entails."

"Your pal Draghi is already putting one and one together and coming up with two," Michele noted. "He knows Togni has adopted Angelica and has eyewitness reports of both those two plus Mr. Hillshire and Triela training here at your facility."

"Yes, since we share some office and facilities space, it is difficult for us to keep things as under wraps from our Brothers-in-Arms as we would like," Lorenzo noted. "Especially once the four new fratello teams are formed and enter training. We will be briefing him shortly, as well as a few other personnel that Director Petri and the Interior Minister feel should be made privy to the existence of this project."

"As you wish, Director."

"Thank you. Hillshire, Triela, please take the Major back to his car."


	7. Viva La Vida

_This story uses characters and locations based on the Gunslinger Girl manga written by Yu Aida and published in the monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The characters of Kara and Michele are original to myself._

* * *

**Chapter Seven – Viva La Vida**

"How is she doing?" Michele asked Priscilla.

"She's sleeping now. We read another chapter of the story to her. Any word from Marco and Giuse?"

"Giuseppe called me from the house. They found Perro and are bringing her back."

"Excellent. Will you stay with her?"

"Of course."

Michele's phone vibrated on the metal tray, creating a metallic ringing. He grabbed it and saw that it was text message from Giuseppe saying they were on their way back with Perro. He heard Angelica rustle in the bed. Her eyes opened and she looked at him and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Angelica. Did I wake you?"

She shook her head. "I was dreaming…of Perro…" Michele reached out and smoothed back her hair.

"Go back to sleep, Ange. Dream sweet dreams." She smiled at him again and closed her eyes. Soon, her breathing became more rhythmic and he the polysomnogram displayed that she was in REM sleep.

The door opened and the night technician, Marianna, came in.

"Buona sera, Il Colonnello," she said. "She is sleeping again?" Michele nodded.

"Perhaps you should do the same, sir," she suggested. "It's almost midnight. I will keep an eye on her."

"Grazie," Michele said and left the room.

* * *

_Three days later…Dusk…_

* * *

All the medical staff were in the observation room. It was a Death Watch and they all knew it, yet this was the first time a cyborg was going to die from it's conditioning and while they hated themselves for doing it, they had to record the event in as much detail as possible.

Along with the medical staff were Priscilla, Olga and Michele. While not part of the medical team, nobody on the staff dared forbid them entrance lest they fear Michele would send Kara after them.

"She's waking," Doctor Belisario stated as he saw the electroencephalograph suddenly go active. They all looked out and saw Angelica open her eyes and reach out to Marco.

"How is this possible?" Marianna asked, pouring over the data displayed on the screens.

"It's a miracle," Priscilla said. Doctor Belisario activated the microphones and they heard Angelica's voice over the speakers.

"In that case…I will…tell you a story."

* * *

_Later…_

_

* * *

_Kara walked up the steps to the hospital, her telescope cradled in her arms. The other girls had asked her to come watch the meteor shower with her. She'd tried to contact Michele, but his cell phone was off. She knew he was often in the hospital ward, so she thought she would stop by on the way to where the girls were setting up.

As she approached, she saw a group of people come out and head for a van that was idling in the drive. She recognized Priscilla, Marco, Olga, and Michele.

"Michele-san!" she yelled, waving her left arm to grab his attention. She saw him say something to Priscilla, who nodded and went with the other two towards the van.

"Michele-san, Henrietta, Claes, Triela and Rico asked me to join them looking at the stars. Is that okay?" she asked. As he approached, Kara could see he had been crying, his cheeks streaked with tears. He clumsily wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Of course, Kara. Enjoy yourself, but be in bed by eleven."

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Yes, I'm fine. We're just going out for a bit."

"I will come with you," she said and set the telescope down on its legs.

"No, go be with your friends. Us adults have something we need to do alone."

"Okay…" she said, her voice making it clear she was unconvinced. Still, her conditioning compelled her to obey. She nodded, grabbed the telescope, and started heading away.

Michele boarded the van, which drove off into the night.

* * *

_A few days later…_

_

* * *

_"I'm afraid," Kara admitted to Henrietta, Rico, Triela and Claes as they were in the latter's room sharing tea and cake that Kara had made. She'd just returned from Angelica's funeral service with Michele. He had told her she did not need to go, but while she herself felt nothing about Angelica's death, she had seen how it had affected him and she wanted to be there to support him.

"Marco is so sad now that Angelica is dead. If I die, will Michele be sad, too? I would hate that."

"Then we must continue to live, for their sake if not our own," Triela noted.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
